As of yet nothing has been carved in stone but Toronto traffic officials say that they will experiment with banning right turns on red lights at 10 intersections next year in an effort to make the streets safer for pedestrians. According to a City of Toronto study, in 2002 and 2003 drivers turning right on red lights hit 422 pedestrians trying to cross a Toronto intersection with the right-of-way. As a pedestrian who has almost been mowed down on numerous occasions by careless drivers turning on a red light I applaud the move. As a driver, I loathe the idea of sitting at a red light waiting for the light to change before I can turn.

The intersections under consideration for the experiment will be high foot traffic intersections. However, opponents of the idea say that this is just an underhanded way of introducing the ban on right turns on red lights, and that once this comes into effect it will spread. You may not be aware but there are already 98 places in Toronto where you can’t turn right on a red light including the scramble intersection at Yonge and Dundas Streets.

Most cities in Canada and the United States permit making right turns on red lights. Montreal and New York City are the two notable exceptions and if you ever experienced the drivers in those cities first hand, you would be very grateful for the ban. If indeed the ban would just effect intersections with high foot traffic, then I support it, but if slowly but surely Torontonians are going to lose their ability to make right hand turns on red lights, then I am against the idea. How do you feel about it?